Photos

Behold the agelessness of these long-distance runners

Joy Johnson does her early morning routine at her home in San Jose. Johnson, 84, is the oldest woman competing in the New York City marathon this Sunday, her 24th consecutive appearance in the event.

Joy Johnson puts on her running shoes at a local track in San Jose. In Sunday’s NYC marathon, 2,634 entrants are 60 or older.

Before starting to run, Johnson loosens up with a short walk. “I want to keep running as long as I can and drop in my running shoes when the time comes,” she says.

Johnson started running when she was 59. The former physical education teacher saw a student teacher run by her house and decided to join her.

Joy Johnson runs every day, out the door shortly after 5 a.m. On this morning she walks and laughs with Kam Chou, another early riser, at the local track in San Jose.

Joy Johnson starts her laps. Her fastest New York Marathon time was 3 hours, 55 minutes and 30 seconds in 1991. Now, she does a run-walk combination and hopes to finish in six hours.

Ed Whitlock, now 80 years old, is shown finishing the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2:59:09, a world record for his age class, in September 2003. This year he ran the same race in 3:15:54 (7.5-minute miles), and finished ahead of the top finishers in each of the next three younger age groups.

The oldest person on record to complete a full-length marathon, 100-year-old Fauja Singh, is originally from India but now lives in London. He has run seven marathons, all after his 89th birthday.

Fauja Singh competes in a 200-meter race for centenarians in Toronto, three days before the Toronto marathon.

This photo courtesy of Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon shows 100-year-old Fauja Singh after completing the race on Oct. 16 with a time of 8:25:16.